Before we move on to Christmas and all the decorating, shopping, crafting, baking and cooking, we need to finish with Thanksgiving 2011. I’m taking a cue from Kym this year and sharing some scenes from our Thanksgiving with the Nelson family.

The Beautiful Table

Thanksgiving Ale

We love babies!

Henrik and the Before-Dinner Apple

Carving the Turkey

Newlyweds. (Okay, not technically, but I still think of them as newlyweds.)

Pumpkin Pie

Clean up!

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving.

Finally, today is November 30th, the last day of NaBloPoMo. I did it! 30 posts in 30 days!

I know I usually start my Ten on Tuesday posts by telling you how I came up with the topic idea but I honestly can’t remember when I thought of this one. I know it was a few weeks ago but I wanted to focus on Thanksgiving themed topics for the last couple of weeks and I just can’t recall why I thought of this. It doesn’t really matter, though, because I think it’s a great topic. Ready? Here are my 10 Favorite Musicals.

1. Les Miserables. I’ve seen it on stage 4 times, I think, and I’ve loved it every time. It’s coming back to Boston next spring and I’m very tempted to go again.
2. Spamalot. I have never laughed so hard and so continuously as I did the night we went to this show.
3. Jesus Christ Superstar. This is another one I have seen and it was fantastic. We always listen to the soundtrack during the Easter season, too.
4. Hello, Dolly. I’ve seen a couple of very good high school renditions of this but I have to say I love the movie with Barbra Streisand.
5. The Music Man. I’m a librarian, what else do I need to say?
6. Wicked. Hannah and I had such a good time when we saw this together and I’m sure that’s influencing my decision to include it on my list of favorites.
7. The Sound of Music. I can never resist watching it when it comes on TV and Edelweiss always makes me cry.
8. The King and I. I used to watch this one with my mom – I swear it was on every Sunday afternoon – and I loved the costumes so much. Getting to Know You, Shall We Dance, and of course Yul Brynner’s “etcetera, etcetera” all stand out in my mind.
9. Grease. The first time I saw this was also the first time I saw Dale. I was 12 and he was 26, which is kind of creepy, but his band was hired to play for the grand opening of the movie at our local theater. When they re-released it for 25th anniversary Dale and I went and took all the kids and had a blast.
10. Mary Poppins. She was the original super nanny. And can I just say – my chimney is being cleaned today and I always expect the chimney sweep to sing and dance. He never does but I keep hoping. Chim-chim-che-ree indeed.

We have been having a very mild November around here. I don’t mind but it’s kind of hard to get into the Christmas spirit when it’s 60° out there. While at the grocery store on Saturday I parked next to a guy with a Christmas tree in the back of his pick up but as I walked to the store entrance a guy drove buy in a convertible and the top was down. Weird.

You know what else is weird?

Putting up the Christmas lights while barefoot.

I had a lot of time to kill while I sat and waited for files to upload over the last few days. Of course I spent it knitting.

Not only did I finish the foot of the first sock but I was able to cast on and knit a few inches of the second. That kind of productivity makes me happy.

It’s taken the better part of 3 days, including 2 hours on the phone with Apple support, one fried hard drive, and one borrowed hard drive but . . .

I think I’m finally moved into my new laptop. w00t!

I love the way that rain makes the colors of leaves really pop.

Happy Leftovers Day!

It’s Thanksgiving!  Time to prepare the feast, gather with friends and family, and be thankful for all that we have . . .

especially stretchy pants.

Pie!

Thanksgiving is only 2 sleeps away and while we’ve been focusing on being thankful all month, I think it’s time for a list. I’m sure it’s no surprise that this week’s Ten on Tuesday topic is 10 Things For Which You Are Thankful. Most of the things in this post, including the photo mosaic, have appeared here before, but it all bears repeating because I have so much and I truly believe in expressing my gratitude.

1. Dale, Hannah and the rest of the family. People matter more than anything so it’s only natural that my husband, my daughter, my stepkids, stepgrandkids and inlaws top my list. I love them all dearly and know that they make my life better.
2. My job. We all know people who are out of work and I’m so grateful that I have a job that I love that pays me well.
3. My health. I’m overweight and I know it but my health is generally good. I also am lucky enough to have decent health insurance and I know this contributes to my good health – I am able to go to the doctor, I am able to have tests and mammograms, cortisone shots for a heel spur and all the other amazing things that modern medicine provides.
4. Our cozy home. I don’t love the lay out of our house and I sure wish we had a bigger bedroom and a 2nd bathroom but it’s a warm and cozy place where our family and friends gather and it means the world to me to have a home of my own.
5. Friends. I am blessed with wonderful friends and I am thankful for them every day. I don’t have siblings anymore but the girl friends I have mean as much to me as any sister could.
6. Plentiful food. I have never had to look my child in the eye and tell them there isn’t anything for dinner. I have never gone hungry. I have never had to ask someone to help me feed my family. I am fortunate to always have enough to eat and my work with the Food Pantry in Carver has made me so aware of how lucky I am to never have experienced food insecurity.
7. Technology. I have an iPhone, an iPad, a Kindle, and a laptop. We have a fancy flat screen TV and a PC at home. We have cordless phones and a Wii and I am thankful for all the fun that comes with modern technology.
8. Kiwanis. There isn’t a lot I can do to help people as an individual but by being part of Kiwanis  we can really make a difference. I’m grateful not only for the friends we have there but for the generosity I see in these people. Being with this group makes me a better person.
9. My brain. I am a manager, an administer, and a librarian. My brain helps me do my job, care for my family, manage my time, and be generally successful.
10. This blog and and all it’s readers. Every comment, every word of encouragement, every compliment when I show you something I knit – it all means so much to me. I am thankful for every one of you!

I’m a big proponent of what I call “Just 10 Minutes”. I use the concept to make myself do something I don’t want to do by promising myself that I only have to do it for just 10 minutes and then I can stop. Often that 10 minutes is all I need to finish the job and when it’s not, I am usually far enough along that I want to finish what I’ve started.

Some projects, though, take more than 10 minutes and such was the case with the reorganization of the corner cabinet in my kitchen. Last Christmas I spilled an entire box of frilled toothpicks in there and it’s been downhill ever since. I finally made up my mind to get it done last Sunday and I coerced Dale into helping me so that I didn’t have to climb up and down on the stepladder too many times.

This is the before picture. There is a mess of glasses, dishes and cookware I don’t use anymore, toothpicks everywhere, and just general clutter.

We emptied everything out, set aside the things we wanted and tossed the things we no longer used. We decided on what was going back into the cabinet and what was going to be stored elsewhere. We wiped down the shelves and put things back neatly.

This is the after picture. I realize it doesn’t even look all that different but it sure is. We’ve got beer glasses on the top shelf where Dale can reach them, wine and martini glasses on the middle shelf where I can reach them, and measuring cups and cookware on the bottom shelf where everyone can reach them. My head feels lighter now that this is done and I’m ready for the entertaining season.

It took more than 10 minutes, of course, but it was worth it.